The 7th Battalion went into action at La Boisselle on the 4th July,
with a plan to consolidate the front line. The lack of an artillery
bombardment before their action did not deter the battalion from
launching their attack up three communication trenches. Although their
advance was held up by heavy machine gun fire, they were able to capture
the German trenches. The war diary reported the German losses of 27
captured, 50 wounded and a further 50 killed. The battalion lost 16
killed, 66 wounded and two missing.

Two days later the battalion re-launched the attack beginning at 8 am
but, with the artillery continuing longer than expected at least 30 men
were hit by our own shells. Lieutenant Wigley, the battalion bombing
officer, spent 9 hours continuously bombing the enemy. It was another
hard day of fighting. The battalion claimed more than 400 prisoners of
war, including a major and a doctor. Their own losses were one officer
killed and six wounded and 14 other ranks killed, 144 wounded and 13
missing.

Lance Corporal Athol Hay

Lance Corporal Athol Hay, the younger brother of the great comedian and
actor Will Hay, had been in France with the 7th Battalion, King’s Own
for twelve months before the start of the Battle of the Somme. He was
with the 7th Battalion in their big attack at La Boiselle on 4th July.
In a letter home his family was sent the news that “his leg was carried
away by a shell and he was badly wounded otherwise. He lingered on one
day in hospital, where all the doctors could do was to alleviate his
pain.”

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